These Were
Called Boinaiel And Maroio, And Were Much Visited And Honoured, Especially
When They Wanted Rain.
12. They say the dead go to a place called Coaibai, which is in a part of
the island named Soraia; and that one Machetaurie Guaiava, who was lord or
cacique of Coaibi, the dwelling-place of the dead, was the first who went
there.
13. They say that the dead are shut up during the day, and walk abroad in
the night, when they feed on a certain fruit called guabazza, which is
something else during the day and changes to that fruit at night for the
use of the dead. The dead go about and feast with the living, who
sometimes think they have a woman of Coaibi in their arms who vanishes
suddenly; and they allege that those dead inhabitants of Coaibi may be
known by the want of navels. The souls of the living they name goeiz,
those of the dead opia.
14. There is a set of men among them called Bohutis, who use many juggling
tricks, pretend to talk with the dead and to know all the actions and
secrets of the living, whom they cure when sick. All their superstitions
and fables are contained in old songs which these Bohutis rehearse, and
which direct them in all things as the Moors are by the Coran. When they
sing these songs they play on an instrument named Maiohaven, like a
calabash with a long neck, made of wood, strong, hollow, and thin, which
makes so loud a noise as to be heard at the distance of a league and a
half.
15. Almost every person in Hispaniola has abundance of cemis; some have
their fathers, mothers, and predecessors and kindred, some in stone and
others in wood, some that speak, some that eat, some that cause things to
grow, others that bring rain, and others that give winds. When any one is
sick, the Buhuitihu is brought, who must be dieted exactly in the same
manner with the sick man. That is both snuff up a certain powder named
cobaba by the nose, which intoxicates them and makes them speak
incoherently, which they say is talking with the cemis, who tell them the
cause of the sickness.
16. When the Buhuitihu goes to visit a sick person, he smears his face
with soot or powdered charcoal. He wraps up some small bones and a bit of
flesh, which he conceals in his mouth. The sick man is purged with cohaba.
The doctor sits down in the house, after turning out all children and
others, so that only one or two remain with him and the sick person, who
must all remain silent. After many mumming tricks[2], the Buhuitihu lights
a torch and begins a mystic song. He then turns the sick man twice about,
pinches his thighs and legs, descending by degrees to the feet, and draws
hard as if pulling something away; then going to the door he says, "begone
to the sea or the mountains, or whither thou wilt," and giving a blast as
if he blew something away, turns round clapping his hands together, which
tremble as if with cold, and shuts his mouth. After this he blows on his
hands as if warming them, then draws in his breath as if sucking something,
and sucks the sick mans neck, stomach, shoulders, jaws, breast, belly, and
other parts of his body. This done he coughs and makes wry faces as if he
had swallowed something very bitter, and pulls from his mouth what he had
before concealed there, stone, flesh, bone, or whatever that may have been.
If any thing eatable, he alleges that the sick man had eaten this which
had occasioned his disorder, pretending, it had been put in by the cemi
because he had not been sufficiently devout, and that he must build a
temple to the cemi, or give him some offering. If a stone, he desires it
to be carefully preserved, wrapped up in cotton and deposited in a basket.
On solemn days when they provide much food, whether fish, flesh, or any
other, they put it all first into the house of their cemi, that the idol
may eat.
17. If the patient die and has many friends or was lord of a territory, so
that the family dare contend with the Buhuitihu, and are disposed to be
revenged for the loss of their friend, they proceed as follows; but mean
people dare not oppose these jugglers. They take the juice of an herb
called gueio or zachon, with which they mix the parings of the dead mans
nails and the hair of his forehead reduced to powder, and pour this
mixture down the dead mans throat or nostrils, asking him whether the
Buhuitihu were the cause of his death, and whether he observed order?
repeating this question several times till he speaks as plain as if he
were alive, so that he gives answers to all they ask, informing them that
the Buhuitihu did not observe due order in his treatment, or that he had
occasioned his death. It is said that the Buhuitihu then asks him whether
he is alive, and how he comes to speak so plain, to which he answers that
he is actually dead. After this strange interrogatory, they restore the
body to the grave. There is another mode of conjuration on similar
occasions. The dead body is thrown into a violent fire, and covered up
with earth like a charcoal furnace, and then questioned as before. In this
case the dead body gives ten distinct answers and no more. When the fire
is uncovered the smoke proceeds into the house of the Buhuitihu, who falls
sick in consequence and is covered all over with sores, so that his entire
skin comes off. This is taken as a sure sign that the deceased had not
been orderly treated, and the kindred conspire to be revenged on the
Buhuitihu[3].
18.
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